Dawn of a New Day (HIATUS)
by Mr. 0-San
Summary: After a horrific storm, Luffy and Nami are stranded on a deserted island. As they wait for the familiar lion-head to come rescue them, they began to realize that they may be closer than they ever though possible. A gradually developing LuNa. May be some angsty stuff too, but mostly light hearted happy strandedness...
1. Day 1

**DAWN OF A NEW DAY**

 **Hello! So...The Day After a Long Fight will be on a short hiatus for now...I'm having a bit of trouble thinking of the next chapter. HOWEVER! I have decided to do something different from my other LuNas...And this idea popped in my head after walking my dog...**

 **And so I decided to write it.**

 **This will probably be a long and painfully slow moving relationship, but I will try to not torture you.. :D**

* * *

"TURN THE SHIP STARBOARD!"

"WE CAN'T REACH IT! IT'S TOO WET!"

"SHIT!"

The Strawhats knew that the New World would be home to some horrific storms and weather, but they had never expected a storm like this. Rain was coming down so hard that at times they thought the sea itself was falling on them. Hurricanes were on opposite sides of the Sunny, and on top of all that, the waves were forming a tsunami. Nami was shouting orders from on top of the mast, while the others were either steering the ship or using buckets to prevent the ship from sinking under the massive pool of water caused by the rain.

Soon, the wind grew so powerful that the others couldn't hear Nami's voice anymore. Fog thickened and soon they couldn't see each other either. Nami was completely overwhelmed, and couldn't think of a single thing to do.

But...something cleared...a miracle you could call it...and Nami spotted the figure of her Captain's precious hat blowing off his head, flying into the ocean, and the same figure jumping in after it. It took Nami three seconds to react, knowing that the others hadn't seen him, and jumped into the fierce sea herself to rescue him.

She grasped Luffy's collar and pulled him to the surface, pushing him onto a wooden plank that was helpfully there. She needed to get back onto the ship...there was no way they could stay out here for more than twelve seconds. She began slapping Luffy, urging him to wake up.

"WAKE UP! CAN'T YOU SEE THE SITUATION WE'RE IN! GET UP YOU JERK!"

No movement from the boy, and Nami felt a wave a fear wash over her. The ship was heading straight toward one of the hurricanes, and the baby tsunami was about to wash over the ocean bound Nami and Luffy. Nami held onto the wooden plank for dear life, pinched her eyes shut, and the world descended into darkness.

 _ **DAWN OF A NEW DAY**_

Nami woke up to the sound of birds chirping and her eyes being blinded by the sun. She shielded her eyes from the rays and sat up, looking back and forth at her surroundings.

She was on an island.

A small island it was, consisting of a small forest and a beach. It was maybe the size of a full-grown whale? Nami couldn't tell. She smelled something great cooking cooking, and stood up. Looks like this island was inhabited. Thank god! She followed the smell into the forest, and soon found herself staring at the massive carcass of some animal and an optimistic looking Luffy helping himself to a slab of meat next to a healthy fire. Her heart grew three sizes, and she kneeled to the ground in relief.

"Oh good...Luffy's here..."

Luffy noticed Nami, and gave a grin.

"Nami! Sorry for leaving you alone! I was really hungry and you wouldn't wake up, so I helped myself!"

"No no...it's fine...I didn't think I was all alone or anything..." She said mainly to herself.

"Huh? I didn't hear you."

"Nothing, nothing." Luffy cocked his head and pointed to a huge pile of flesh.

"There's a bunch. Are you hungry?"

Nami gave a nod and once she arrived, she helped herself to the pile of food. Once she had eaten, she was in a much better mood.

"So...how'd we end up here?"

Luffy gave a shrug.

"Dunno. A giant wave came, and I blacked out for a bit...then I woke up and saw you clinging on this plank thingy, then we ended up here."

"What about the others?" Nami said with a hint of panic in her voice. "They were headed right into a hurricane!"

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Luffy assured, nibbling on a bone. "They're strong. They'll come rescue us soon!"

"Yeah." Nami waited for Luffy to finish, then stood up.

"We should probably explore."

"Already did." Luffy remarked, wiping his face with his sleeve. "It's all forest. There's some bushes with yummy berries, and lots of animals with wings!"

Nami gave a nod.

"Then...I guess we should wait for the others to arrive?"

"Yeah."

Nami and Luffy both sat on the small beach. It was the perfect area, with a beautiful full view of the sea in front of them. They waited for nearly an hour when Luffy grew bored.

"I'm bored! Can I go explore some more!?"

"Not be yourself, you'll probably eat some poisonous mushroom."

"Can you come with me?"

"I'm waiting to see if the Sunny comes."

Luffy gave a loud groan and flopped down next to Nami. They waited for hours and hours on end, until night fell and Nami began to feel panicked.

"Luffy! What if they were all killed!?"

"Trust them Nami! The Sunny's a powerful vessel, and mere hurricane can't bring it down!"

That still didn't assure Nami, and she kept staring out into the ocean, every second expecting to see the familiar Lion face of Sunny. But the Lion never came. Luffy was already fast asleep on the sand, and Nami gave a long sigh. Were they really stranded here? She laid down on the sand. Well, at Luffy was here with her. If she was alone, she wouldn't have a chance here in this forest. She would just have to keep Luffy in line, and they could stay out here for as long as they needed! Soon, Nami fell asleep, and dreamt of the ship, and how she would get through this sudden occurrence and return with everyone bright and smiley again.

* * *

 **Yeah, short chapter I know...but It'll pick up! I promise!**


	2. Day 2

**Aaaah! Sorry for the delay! Tumblr is a killer! I hope you still like me! *sweatdroop***

 **Anyway, like I said, this fic will pick up. It'll probably be about ten chapters max...maybe...you can never tell.**

* * *

 _ **Dawn of a New Day**_

 **Day 2**

When Nami woke up, she expected to still be on the Sunny, maybe whacking someone over the head for being too loud. But it took her about a minute to remember that they were still on an island, and was extremely and horrifically thirsty. Luffy was still asleep, and Nami shook him awake.

"Luffy! Did you find a pond or anything in the forest? Oi! I'm dying here!"

Luffy groggily woke up and pointed at the forest.

"Aa...there's a water hole in there..." He said sleepily, then fell back asleep. Nami let go of his shoulders and gave a long sigh. Leave it to Luffy to be as vague as humanly possible.

She took a small pause to look at her surroundings...which was actually quite new for her. Normally she rushed to things and didn't really pay heed to the actual world around her. Now, she studied the landscape as much as possible.

Mostly forest, but not a dense one. One side was beach, while the other sides just descended with a cliff. According to Luffy, there was a pond of (hopefully) freshwater somewhere in there, along with many edible animals, strangely all having wings. Even the buffalo-looking things had wings...interesting...

It seemed to be a fall island, meaning that winter would come quite soon. She didn't worry though...having Luffy was as much protection that she needed.

She ventured into the forest and instantly found the pond. She gave a small 'Yessss' to herself, as it was filled with clean, drinkable water.

The rest of the forest was basically trees...with the winged animals and a berry bush that she silently noted to herself. After her little adventure, she headed back and saw Luffy cleaning off another massive carcass.

"Save some you nitwit!" She shouted, hitting him over the head.

"Owwww! Nami! We've got plenty of food! Don't worry!"

After they ate in silence, Nami told Luffy all of the main things about the island. She made sure to emphasize the fact that winter would come soon, but Luffy seemed unfazed.

"Snow's fun! Maybe we can make the world's biggest snowman if the others are slowpokes!"

"Why did I have to be trapped with Mr. Moron?"

Luffy gave a grin and jumped up.

"Well...if we're stuck here, we might as well have some fun!" He poked Nami lightly on the head. "You're it!"

"Hold up...we need to calculate how much food we'll need to get through the winter...and how we'll make a fire when the snow comes..."

"Who cares about that stuff? We can just make a fire with wood and the Beli you have stashed in the winter..."

"HELL NO! WHAT ARE YOU MAD!? IT'S MONEY!" Luffy hid himself comically at Nami's outburst, and she gave a long sigh.

"Well...we'll deal with that when the time comes...we'll probably be outta here before the leaves even fall..."

"Yeah!"

Luffy then cocked his head expectantly.

"Can we play tag now?"

Nami groaned. This idiot didn't understand the situation they were in! But...there really was nothing to do...

"Fine...whatever..."

Luffy whooped and began running.

"CATCH ME IF YA CAN!"

Nami rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Freaking idiot..." She said to herself as she began running after him. She'd have to trap him; he was way too abnormally fast...

After about five minutes, she finally cornered him.

"HAH! I got you now!" She panted, starting lose her worry. Luffy gave a smirk.

"Not yet!" He teased, stretching his arm to a tree branch and preparing himself to rocket away...

Until Nami nonchalantly tagged his arm.

"Tag...you're it..." She laughed.

"Shit!" Luffy laughed back, letting go of the branching and setting his sights on Nami. "You'd better run now!"

Nami bolted away, but was caught less than a minute later. They both fell on the ground exhausted.

"How...do you run...so damn fast?" Nami panted.

"Dunno...I run a lot!" He said with a 'Shishishi'. They both lay in the grass for a while, catching their breath.

"It's a nice day..." Nami said amusedly. "Unlike yesterday...there's the New World for ya..."

"Yep! It's sure is awesome!" Luffy chirped, not really listening. Nami snorted and looked at Luffy at the corner of her eye. He had a content look on his face and his arms were behind his head, not worried in the slightest.

"This kinda reminds me of my old home." Luffy mused suddenly. Nami raised her eyebrows.

"You used to live in the woods?"

"Yep! Sorta." He answered happily. "Dadan and the other guys just let us roam free in the woods! There were giant tigers and other animals there that we used to fight! It was awesome!"

"Sounds scary..."

"Nope! Ace was there to protect me! Sabo too!" He grinned and gave a laugh. Nami's expression turned sympathetic.

"Your brothers right? Sabo's the one in the big hat right? At Dressrosa?"

"Yep!"

Nami opened her mouth to say something about Ace, then closed it. Luffy barely noticed this.

"Oi! It's ok to talk about this stuff! I'm fine!"

"Are you sure?" Nami blurted out. She knew so little about Luffy and his past, but she did know that he loved his brother and that he was devastated at his death. Luffy gained a serious expression and turned his head to look at Nami.

"Of course! I'm strong, and I have you guys. The past is the past...I may miss Ace more everyday, but..."

"But I know you're still suffering..." Nami interrupted. "After Belle'mere died...well...I still haven't gotten over it..."

"The sky is really blue today..." Luffy said, changing the subject. Nami narrowed her eyes and sat up abruptly.

"Luffy. It's ok to tell us how you're feeling. You're our friend, our Nakam-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Luffy said, straight to the point. "I'm the captain. I'm supposed to carry the burdens of everyone else along with mine. That's my role as captain. Like Zoro said..."

Nami's eyes softened. She could tell by how much he was trying to change the subject that he really was hurting.

"Can you just be human for a second? Luffy? Tell me about it as a friend, not as a boss. Alright?"

Luffy gave an annoyed sigh and sat up.

"Look. I did my rampaging and all that shit back at Amazon Lily. There's nothing I can say or do to make it change, and crying about it's not gonna change anything either. So let's not talk about, ok?"

"Rampaging?" Nami questioned, a bit surprised. Luffy grunted and looked away.

"Luffy...can you just tell me something? Anything?"

"Fine." He gave in. "You heard about Marineford, right? I ran through all of that, along with breaking into Impel Down, getting poisoned, losing ten years of my life, nearly dying countless times, getting kicked, stabbed, punched, punching my own Grandpa!" He looked at Nami fiercely. "And I kept running. And finally, finally Ace was free, and then that godamned AKAINU-"

"Luffy...alright...it's alright." Nami soothed, but now that he was going, he couldn't stop.

"And then Ace died, and I remember just losing it, some pain right here..." He patted his exposed chest, on his scar. "Then just waking up sometime later and suddenly everyone was the enemy...Torao, Jinbei, Hancock, everyone. And...I just remember screaming...and memories...I just couldn't believe he was gone..."

Nami was utterly surprised that he hadn't faltered yet. He still had a deadpan expression, staring aggressively at a blade of grass.

"Then...Jinbei reminded me of you guys, and I realized that I couldn't cry and whine anymore. I had Nakama to protect. I needed to grow up. Ace wasn't there to protect me anymore, so it was time to protect you all."

"Luffy..."

"Hell...I was so messed up that I left my hat at the battlefield...I was so distraught that I told myself that I couldn't become the Pirate King..."

"WHAT!?" Nami shouted.

"And I couldn't...not then anyway. I was way too weak, and I still need to become stronger."

Luffy! That's bullshit!" She clenched her fist. "How could you've EVER thought you couldn't accomplish your dream!?"

"Dreams are great unless they're unachievable." Luffy continued. "But no dream is unachievable if you want it bad enough."

Nami's eyes were watering, and she bonked Luffy over the head.

"Idiot..." Was all she said. "You ARE going to become the Pirate King. You want it bad enough."

"I know I do." He gave a grin. "That's why there's no chance in hell I'm giving up!"

Nami gave a sniff and grinned along with him. Finally, some truth out of this man...Now she was making some progress. There was a long period of silence, before Luffy's grin faded and he looked to the ground.

"I don't want to lose anything again...So...I need to become even more powerful than Shanks and all those guys. And I still have a long way to go."

"You'll make it Luffy." Nami gave a warm smile. Luffy looked back at her with timid eyes, then gave a smirk.

"Of course."

Nami contained her happiness at these words and flicked his hat.

"But you'll need to protect this too...along with us." She said playfully.

"Yep! Boshi'll never get hurt!" He had his childish demeanor back, and Nami gave a sigh of relief. Luffy hopped up and pointed behind him.

"Wanna play tag again!?"

Nami laughed.

"Sure!"

Luffy whooped and began bolting again, but misjudged where and fell into the ocean.

"YOU IDIOT!" Nami shouted, jumping in after him.

 **LATER**

"Aaaah I'm hungry again!"

"Again!? At this rate there won't be anything left to eat! Gad...now I feel how Sanji-Kun feels..."

Luffy was skipping around singing some weird song that sounded like "There is a pig~ the pig is in the road. Here comes a car~ watch out for the headlights!"

"The hell's a car?" Nami asked.

"No idea!" Luffy chirped. He continued skipping around while Nami kept a lookout for a ship. Soon, the excessive singing and "Tap tata Tap." became extremely annoying...

"Would you shut up!?"

"OK." Luffy laughed, then proceeded to sing another song about a Pig and a 'car', one that was slightly more tragic. Finally, Nami got on her last nerve and gave Luffy a good smack on the head.

"I said SHUT UP!"

"Owwww Nami! Can't I sing!?"

"If you must, sing about something less morbid though!"

Luffy hummed like he was pissed off, then sang, "The pig is on a boat~and meets a lady pig. He's happy and they make~ little piggie babies!"

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

"THEN WHAT SHOULD I SING ABOUT!?"

"SING BINK'S SAKE LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

"Oooh! What about "The Pig's Sake?"

"NO! ENOUGH ABOUT THE STUPID PIGS!"

.

"Going to deliver~the Pig's Sake...

Across-the road of cars, to his little piggie wife!

Together they get drunk a~nd, make piggie bab~ies,

And then, kill the farmers with a piggie knife!"

.

"That's...not a bad parody...BUT STILL!"

Soon the night came. This day was better than the last, but more waiting was soon to come.

* * *

 **Ah ha ha ha...finally done...Procrastination baby! Whoo!**

 **If anyone is wondering, the Pig/Headlights song is actually based on on of the Oda introduction thingys in the beginning of the volumes. XD Everything else I made up :P**

 **I'll try to get the next chappie up sooner**


	3. Day 3

Luffy woke up before Nami did and immediately went into the forest to capture another winged buffalo for breakfast, like the two mornings before. He liked this forest a lot. It reminded him of his hometown. He almost expected to see Sabo and Ace jump out of a tree and start attacking some giant tiger.

But...

He shook his head and made himself push those memories out of his head. Now wasn't the time to be mourning, there was food to be caught and eaten.

He whistled while skipping around, then stopped, thinking that he heard something.

Like...some sort of scared whimpering.

"Eh? Who's there?" Luffy called, spinning around. There was no answer. Luffy shrugged and continued to search.

~whimper

"Alright! Who the hell is here!?" Luffy called out, annoyed. He kicked the ground, and suddenly fell into a small hole.

"GAH! Wha-"

"OUCH! Who is that!?" Shouted a voice under him. Luffy pulled himself back up onto the ground and looked into the hole, where he saw an extremely worried looking man with brown hair and glasses who was very short and squat. The man was rubbing his head and repeated.

"W-Who are you boy?"

"I'm Luffy. The man who'll become king of the Pirates. Who the heck are you?" Luffy asked. The man swallowed and peeked at the boy above.

"A pirate captain. I'm Fidget of the Squat Pirates."

"Ooh! A captain! What are you doing here Short-Guy?"

Fidget began shaking.

"I'm stranded here. I barely made it through the winter alive...This island is a killer..."

Luffy raised his eyebrows.

"Eh?"

"Please.,..take me back to your camp...I'll explain everything once there..."

Luffy thought for a minute.

"Alright...but my Navigator is here too...And if you even THINK about hurting her..."

"I won't..."

Luffy pulled Fidget out of the hole and his stomach growled.

"ooh...but can I kill offa Buffalo first? I'm STARV-"

"DON'T TAKE THE FOOD FOR GRANTED!" Fidget suddenly shouted. Luffy fell backwards and stared at Fidget with surprised eyes. The short-guy seemed so cowardly and weak that he didn't expect him to have such a booming, commanding voice. Fidget wiped sweat from his brow and regained his timid look.

"I-I'm sorry...it's just..."

"Luffy!?" The voice of Nami called out. She ran up to the two men and glared at Fidget.

"Who's this midget?"

"He's Fidget...he's stranded here too." Luffy answered. "This is Nami! My Navigator!"

Much to Nami's surprise, Fidget barely gave her a glance. He kept his eyes on Luffy.

"Listen...both of you...once the last leaf falls...winter will come. You won't be killed off by the snow, or the cold, or even by the animals for that matter. Because, the animals won't be here anymore. Everyone of them will migrate to a warmer area, the berries will freeze, and soon there will be nothing on the entire island to eat. Not one thing."

Both of them made surprised noises in their throat.

"And you won't be able to store food either. The meat from the buffalo spoils after a week, and the berries will only last so long. I was only able to survive because I have a small stomach..."

"So...you're saying that if we aren't rescued by winter, we'll die of starvation!?" Nami exclaimed.

"Oi Nami! We won't die here! Idiot!" Luffy shouted. "The other's will save us LONG before then!"

"I thought that too..." Fidget said, shaking violently. "But this island has been long forgotten, and is near impossible to find. It's called "Ghost Island" as only those who have been stranded on it know about it."

"I've heard about it!" Nami announced. "I thought it was just a rumor!"

"It's not. I'm the only one who has survived here for so long. Everyone else has died during their first winter."

Nami gave Luffy a glance, and much to her surprise he wasn't fazed a bit, his expression unreadable as his eyes were covered by his hat. She turned back to the man and he gave them a sympathetic look.

"I highly doubt your stomachs are as small as mine...so I don't know how long you'll last...I pray that you'll survive, but you must plan for the worst."

"But Luffy's stomach is larger than a whale's!" Nami noted.

"Nami! The others will come before then!" Luffy suddenly barked. Nami whipped her head and began to panic with worry.

"But what if they don't!?"

"Trust them Nami! They're our Nakama!" Luffy uncovered his eyes and stared right at Nami. "Like hell they're going to lollygag and look half-assed for us. They love us just as much as we love them, and you can sure as hell believe that if one of them got stranded somewhere, I wouldn't rest a moment until they were found."

Nami froze and Luffy's eyes darted to Fidget's and bore a hole into him.

"You had better be telling the truth..."

"I swear I am!"

Nami had something to say, but from the looks Luffy was giving, she found it best to stay quiet. When Luffy was like this, there was no argument. He crossed his arms and lightened his expression a little.

"Are you the only other one here?"

Fidget looked behind his shoulder.

"Uh...as far as I know. I've been here for a little more than a year, but I don't really go outside of my hidey-hole much..."

Luffy nodded and directed his eyes toward Nami. They seemed to be asking 'Do you trust him.' Nami saw what he was asking and gave a small nod. Luffy grinned in response and uncrossed his arms.

"If you want, you can hang out with us. I'm really strong so nothing will hurt us. We don't have a camp yet so we'll have to make one, but I can do that!"

Fidget's eyes widened and he waved his hands.

"Look, I-I appreciate the offer but I really don't think I ca-"

"C'mon! It'll be fun!" Luffy laughed. "Plus, you seem like a fun guy! It'll get boring with just us!"

"Please Strawhat...I can't go wi-"

But Luffy was already off, finding some buffalo to eat. Nami shrugged lightly.

"You can't change his mind...believe me I know."

Fidget had his mouth open, then closed it slowly.

"I could use some company..."

Nami smirked and put her hand on Fidget's shoulder.

"Luffy isn't just 'company'...he's an experience."

XXXXXXXX

Nami could definitely see something odd in their new friend. When Luffy arrived with a large buffalo and they ate, she noticed Fidget pick at the food, almost as if he was scared to eat it. He also didn't make eye contact with them, and only spoke when he had to. It was almost as if he went out of his way to not get friendly with the two.

The rest of that day was more of a blur than the other two days. She was starting to wear of being on this island, and now that she knew about how secret it was, she couldn't help but become slightly worried. If what Fidget had said was true...

"Nami."

Nami was startled by the sudden voice and she spun around. She had to squint in the darkness to see the figure of Luffy.

"...yeah?"

She saw the figure step closer until she could make out his face, serious with a hint of concern. When he didn't say anything, she said, "Is Fidget asleep?"

"Aa." Is all he said. Nami was perplexed as to why he was acting so oddly.

"Nami, do you trust him?" He asked after a minute of silence. Nami narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah...I guess..." She answered. "He seems friendly, and I'm unsure that he would have the ability to do anything that we couldn't handle."

Luffy gave a small, unsure nod, which made Nami wonder what he saw in the man that he would consider a threat.

"...why? Do you not trust him?"

Luffy gave a shrug and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Dunno...but don't you think it's kinda weird that he survived super long with no food?"

Nami's expression grew curious.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...a winter is a long time...so if he didn't have any food he would die right?"

"Well, he did say he had a small stomach..." She assured. "Or maybe the winter isn't as long as a typical winter. It takes maybe 40 days to starve you know.."

Luffy still looked unsure, but he gave another shrug and sat down, eyes covered by his hat. Nami sat down in front of him and stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

"...Luffy?" She finally spoke, growing worried of the boy.

"...when does winter start?" He asked softly.

Nami was taken aback by the question, but she thought for a moment.

"I'm not completely sure, but seeing as how this is a fall island, I would say maybe a couple weeks to a month or two."

"...alright." He gave a small smile and lifted his head, locking his eyes with Nami's. After about a minute, he gave a small snicker and pulled his hat over his eyes.

"...what?" Nami asked, put off by his behavior. Luffy maintained his grin, slowly stood up, and looked down at his navigator.

"You know, I'm glad that out of anyone, I got stranded with you." He said, before walking to the beach and gradually lying down for sleep.

Nami froze for a moment, then squinted her eyes at the obscure comment. Where did that come from? She wasn't quite sure. She gave a small sigh and lay down on the grass, losing her thoughts to sleep.

 **Holy crapapples! Did I actually update?! Wow! That was unexpected! \owo/**

 **Um...yeah so. I'm trying to become more active on this site again. Hopefully you all still enjoy my writing and stuff. Thanks for being patient.**


	4. Day 4-10

**I am SOOO sorry for being a neglectful authorrrrr! *dies***

 **Real life is really catching up to me lately, going into High School and all...and plus I've entered another fandom (Homestuck) that's been distracting me from my pride and joy. ;A;**

 **HOWEVER! I am here now! And I will try my best to be a good author (for once) \owo/**

 _ **Dawn of a New Day**_

 **Day 9**

It had been exactly a week since Fidget joined the party, and the hints of an early winter was showing. Leaves were starting to fall to the de-greening grass, and Fidget was starting to fidget a lot more, almost to the point of a constant shake.

Surprisingly, Luffy had grown quieter in the week that passed. Nami had suggested that they collect as many berries as humanly possible in case they are caught in the incoming winter, and she tested the time it took for the winged buffalo meat to go rotten and inedible.

Just like Fidget had told them, the meat spoiled in exactly seven days.

Nami was starting to worry about her captain; his energy seemed somewhat drained and he spent most of the night sitting on the beach staring off into the ocean with a faraway look on his face.

On the night of the ninth day, she quietly sat next to him, arms placed on her knees, and thought about things.

She thought about her crew, and if they were alright.

She thought about the rapidly incoming winter, and whether they'd be able to survive it.

She thought about Luffy, and why he seemed so oddly maladaptive to the whole situation.

She was so deep in thought, in fact, that she nearly jumped when she noticed Luffy's head faced toward hers.

"Luffy! Hey..." She pathetically exclaimed. She noticed that she seemed a bit off too...was the island affecting both of their moods in some way perhaps?

Luffy gave a short nod upwards of greeting and turned his attention back to the ocean, taking off his hat and fingering it thoughtlessly.

Seeing Luffy seem so calm and collected surprised the navigator more than it should have. Her eyes wandered to the boy and seemed to scan him. Had she ever noticed how his eyes seemed to enlighten his face somewhat? How his slight frown made his normally way-too-stretched-out face seem somewhat relaxed and quiescent?

Seeing him in this way in an odd and, kind of random way, helped her understand how such a numbskull could be as dangerous as he was.

It also made her ponder why at least a girl or two hadn't made a move on him yet.

This thought made her shake out of her thoughts and squint at the ground in minute disgust. Luffy had casually noticed how she had stared at him for a few seconds too long, and glanced at her with a quizzical side-eye.

"Do you want something Nami?" He asked indolently, placing his hat on his head.

"Not really...I mean..." Nami hugged her knees uncomfortably. "I was just wondering what you were thinking about."

Luffy's sharp, yet relaxed eyes were still studying his navigator from the side, until he gave a soft sigh and lowered his gaze, tilting his hat downward.

"I don't really like to admit it but I am worried for the others..." He said, surprisingly calmly. "I guess...I just don't want to admit to myself that they might fail."

"Fail at what?" Nami questioned, turning her full attention to the boy.

"I dunno...fail at finding us...fail at navigating the ship without us...fail at surviving that hurricane..."

Nami raised her eyebrows at this. Normally Luffy was so sure about things.

"I'm not sure...I think this stupid island has washed away my optimism a little..." He shrugged. "Either that or I'm just bored..."

"It's alright to doubt things..." Nami interrupted. Luffy's eyes focused back on Nami. "Sometimes there's nothing you can do but wait for something to happen, and...while you wait you begin to wonder if anything will happen at all..."

Luffy's head bobbed in a short nod, and Nami gave a weak smile.

"Plus...Robin's on the ship with them. Honestly I'm sure they'll be alright, as long as they didn't lose what little brains they had and made Zoro temporary navigator."

A sneaky smirk crept on Luffy's face and he turned his head fully toward Nami's, who in return gave a grin of her own. Their eyes met, and Nami realized how strong their bond had grown the past week, and they had barely even realized it.

They could communicate with simple things such as snarky smiles and relaxed eyes, and it stirred something in the inner depths of Nami. She'd never had this, not even with Belle'mere and her sister. She'd never had someone who understood her better than she did herself, and she was pretty damn knowledgeable about herself. From the playful look returning to Luffy's face, she guessed that she had sorted him out.

"Yo. Nami."

"Hmm?"

Luffy's slight smirk grew to a roguish grin, one that she only saw in battles. It was her favorite expression of Luffy's...an expression of pure fearlessness and determination. It didn't matter what he was determined about; that small narrowing of the eyebrows and revealing of teeth never failed to get her pumped up for something inspirational.

"The others will definitely come. I'm sure of it Nami."

Nami couldn't hold back a silly grin at these normal words and clapped his left shoulder gently.

"There's the Luffy I'm used to."

He gave a quick glance at the hand on his shoulder, then gave a soft, "Shishishi."

"They'll come...no doubt about it."

 _ **Day 10**_

Luffy was much more perky when he woke up on Day Ten on the island, and he spent the majority of the day getting Fidget to do something with him.

"Let's play ball!"

"...I-I'd rather not...M-Mugiwara..."

It was the same every time. Nami began to grow almost irritated at the short man's cowardice, and she could clearly see a hint of frustration in Luffy's eyes. Fidget was wimpish, gutless and timorous without a brave side to be seen.

Unfortunately, today was not the day to be concerned about wimpish fat captains...because the winter had come early.

The first specks of snow fell to the ground and nearly half of the buffalo had already flown off the island. Nami instructed Luffy and Fidget to only have a handful of berries once they had eaten all the buffalo meat after they were all gone. Luffy vehemently complained about this, and Nami couldn't help but see a slight fury in Fidget's squinty eyes when he did. Nami answered Luffy's complaints with a knock to the head and an insult, which seemed to alleviate the situation.

However, a knock the head wouldn't solve the more important problem at hand...and Nami grew slightly anxious. They couldn't screw this up. One wrong move and they would die on this island.

This thought hit Nami like a sack of bricks...death. Starvation. If they messed this up, Luffy would never become the Pirate King.

This thought did not help her anxiety at all. Not one bit.

The times up ahead would certainly be tough...

 **For some reason I feel like I've grown somewhat better at writing then when I started writing this...owo"**

 **I'm not quite sure though...maybe I should actually start WRITING some more...! *frowns strongly at self***

 **Well, I hope you enjoyed the update, and hopefully the next chapter will come soon...maybe...**


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